Not a team, a Family
by Lady of Myth and Legends
Summary: Horatio Caine has lost many that close to his heart. Let's face it, they were always IN his heart. But for those left behind to carry on, H has a new found respect for. They were never his team, but rather. . .his family. Rated for words like morgue.


**Hello everyone, Lady of Myth and Legends here. Sorry it's been a while, I was looking for inspiration. I think I found it too. I love CSI: Miami and was just trying to find a good way to work in my love for everyone's favorite LT. Horatio Caine. Well, here it is. H's true insight on his team**** and what he really thinks of them. Please enjoy everyone.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami, any of the team, and sadly. . . not LT. Horatio Caine.** **(but a girl can dream. right?)**

**I also wish to thank my two (only two?) reviewers for their praise and support:**

**LovelyLadiZ:** "Wow. Just...WOW. This was amazing. I loved how you described how Horatio felt about losing the team members & his wife. Very real."

**daxy: **" great story! :)"

**Thank you reviewers and all you readers out there, please review cause I only have two for this story. Don't forget to check out my other fics. Thanks and on with the show!  
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><p>He lead a team.<p>

No, not just a team. A family.

Within this family contained the men and women of Miami that made every day in the Miami, Dade Crime Lab worth it. As they catched a new criminal, as they solved a new case, and as secrets that each of them kept deep within their hearts came out into the open for all to see.

Calleigh's father had a major drinking problem even though he was a cop himself, Ryan possessed a gambling issue and had problems with his eyesight, Eric's sensitivity to those who were prejudice against foreigners and whether or not he was an American citizen, Natalia's abusive boyfriend and being the mole within the lab, and Alexx and her fear for her children's safety, their innocence, and their fear of losing their mom to "the bad guys".

These men and women were not just his co-workers, just his colleagues. No, they were more than that. They were constant reminders of why he fought as hard as he did. Fighting for those who had no means of fighting back against the criminals of Miami. Reminders of why he went to the Lab everyday, why he was always on scene of a murder, and why he was always at one of his teammate's bedsides after being hit with a bullet, let alone a nail-gun.

They guided him, inspired him, encouraged him, and supported him. They were his family. They would always be his family. They had an unwavering loyalty to him, a never ending faith in him, never abandoning him, and never backing down. They viewed him as a father, to all of them. And they, to him, were very much like his children (_Kyle included_).

Children who need someone to help them when they felt no one else could or would. No one else they felt they could trust. The need to protect them was an instinct that was driven into his very soul. All he really wanted nowadays was for no one else on the team, no on else who mattered to him, to perish.

Too many. There were too many. To many that perished before their time. Megan, Speed, Marisol, Ray . . . too many. It made his heart hurt. No, hurt was not quite the right word. It was an unbearable, excruciating, hot-white, searing pain that felt as if your skin was being cut with a thousand knifes, having molten lead poured into your very veins, and being shot straight through the heart over and over and over again. And even that felt like child's play. Nothing, no amount of adjectives could describe the pain that still remained in his heart.

But, he was still here. Still alive. And he still had a team. A team that would not fail him if they could help it. A team that would do everything in their power to catch the next criminal, solve the next case, and put to rest the next victim that found his or her way into Alexx's morgue.

No, Horatio Caine did not have a team.

He had a family.

**Well? How was it? Short I know, but I thought it needed to be said. Please R and R. Thank you for reading.**


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